A world-building process of reflection (Part III)

What does that world even look like, the one where everyone finds true satisfaction and purpose that doesn’t come at the cruelty towards or the expense of others? Would it look like increased vulnerability in our communications with each other? Increased empathy towards someone else who may be going through major things you don’t even know about? Pretty paintings on the sides of our buildings and highways, encouraging authentic community? 

Can we hold this to be true, while also reinstating the death penalty, such as for the Eichmann trial? The trials of other Nazi soldiers, officials, and all manner of support folk can be a template for how we change our handling of trials of terrorists and murderers, and attempted murderers. (I wonder if others contemplate that an attempted murderer shouldn’t be let off the hook just because they screwed up their own planned murder.) 

What does a “good Gazan” look like? What does a “bad Jew” look like? Why is it so hard to accept that some people are good, and others are bad, and sometimes we need to take both in hand to make sure everyone actually gets the point of living in a shared society where we rely on each other to make our lives simpler and better? Is there actual room for releasing convicted terrorists, murderers, and other criminals back into the wild? No. There is no room for that in an enlightened society where we care for all so that all may prosper. 

Life doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game, and if you choose to live that way, you are truly losing out. 

What does a new society look like? It looks like roads being paved in all areas that need paved roads, and not just in roads for Israelis, especially Israeli Jews. It looks like art is being taught as a form of self-expression that allows and fosters a greater intimacy with yourself and with others as you choose to express it. It looks like loving kindness for more than just the severely injured person you see in a hit-and-run. It looks like empathy for every person around you, not just for yourself. 

A new society can take the form of 15-minute cities (no matter how much my sperm donor  of a father has railed against it) where even the most carless, dispossessed person can find a home, work, and all manner of things you need within easy reach. 

It looks like teaching kindness, compassion, empathy, and civility towards all, but also knowing how to defend yourself or someone else should the need arise. Mistakes happen, but so do terrible things that come from dark, inhumane places. We must be prepared for all manner of situations, especially learning from these dark days. These more than 500 days have been since over 1200 people were murdered and more kidnapped, brutally tortured, and abused… While our nation stands in silence, with a war-mongering Prime Minister using the war for his own ends, rather than protecting ours. 

It looks like reeducation of the entire population, both Israeli and Palestinian so that once our warmongers die out, the next generations can lead us into a new and better tomorrow. 

We have places to turn for inspiration, for hope. Hope and peace are not found in the barrel of a machine gun pointed at our enemies unless its to protect innocents while defending against those with murderous, evil intents.